"The Voice of Missouri Business®" Weekly Report- April 17, 2026

By Matthew Smith and Ray McCarty

April 17, 2026 - Here is a recap highlighting some of our efforts on the highest profile issues on behalf of Missouri employers this week.

Tax shifting proposal (AIM opposes)

SS SCS HCS HJR 173 & 174 (Rep. Davidson and Speaker Patterson), Governor Kehoe’s proposal to shift funding for state government from individual income tax to sales and use taxes, passed the Senate this week in a revised form, despite strong opposition from Associated Industries of Missouri. The bill contains no protection against increasing the burden of funding state government to businesses. It does not protect against creative new taxes that could be implemented, does not protect current sales and use tax exemptions, does not prohibit an increase in the corporation income tax and could result in multiple point taxation (taxing inputs that are used to provide taxable goods or services, similar to a value-added tax, or VLT). Read more about the details of the bill and our reasons for opposing the plan HERE. The bill will be considered by the House as early a next week and, if approved, will go directly to voters in November 2026 (or a different election date could be set by the Governor). Associated Industries of Missouri continues to be the only statewide business advocacy organization that is standing up for Missouri businesses in opposing the tax shifting legislation.

Protecting businesses from frivolous lawsuits (AIM supports)

Last week, we told you about SB 907 (Sen. Hudson) which would prevent lawsuits that have recently been threatened against businesses operating websites that allegedly violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA.) This is a scheme used by a trial attorney to scare businesses into settling, only to make a quick buck.

The bill was approved by the Missouri House with changes. These changes made in the House version of the bill will need to be approved by the Senate or the bill’s final details worked out by a conference committee to find a compromise between the House and Senate positions.

We appreciate the hard work of the sponsors of this bill and their leadership in protecting Missouri businesses from frivolous lawsuits.

Protecting essential funding of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources

SB 953 (Senator Bean) was approved by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee this week. This bill creates a new funding stream to fund the Air Pollution Control Fund at the Department of Natural Resources. This is to avoid a short fall, which could result in additional fees for industry, or cause the Environmental Protection Agency to come to Missouri and impose their erroneous regulations on our industries.

The House committee added an amendment dealing with the makeup of the Clean Water Commission and expanded the title of the bill. This means it is more likely that amendments are added to the bill when this reaches the House floor. This also means it is now impossible for it to be sent to the Governor’s desk after a full vote in the House of Representatives and must be sent back to the Senate where they will either vote in favor of the House version or send it to conference to where the provisions the House will be debated. Regardless, AIM will fight to ensure this bill makes it through the process and gets to the Governor’s desk at the end of session. 

We intend to provide legislative updates to you on a weekly basis as we track the progress of these and other bills affecting Missouri businesses.